On the list of crushing losses the Celtics will have this season, what happened on Friday night will be prominently featured.

With prime chances to close out the Chicago Bulls, the Celtics allowed a game-tying basket with two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, then the game-winning basket with just 3.1 seconds to go in overtime.

It made for a difficult way to end a season-long homestand as the Celtics were edged by the Bulls, 100-99, at the TD Garden, their second straight loss after a six-game winning streak.

The Celtics were behind nearly the entire night, taking their first lead with only 4:37 remaining in regulation, but they were on the verge of slipping past the Bulls until the visitors made a pair of clutch shots.

Kirk Hinrich sent the game into OT when he made a 15-footer after grabbing a loose ball with time running out in the fourth quarter, then Marco Belinelli stunned the Celtics by connecting on a 14-foot turnaround fadeaway for the game-winning shot.

“Listen, part of me (wonders) how we had a chance to win it the way we played,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, his team now 20-19 with two road games ahead. “I didn’t think we played very well. I didn’t think we played very smart. But we hung in there, which is a good sign.

“Down the stretch, you’ve got to win that game before overtime. You have to win those games. We made a lot of little mistakes and they won the game. But they did make some unbelievable shots.”

The Celtics, who were led by a season-high 30 points from Rajon Rondo, had an 88-85 lead with 20.1 seconds to go in regulation following a pair of Kevin Garnett foul shots. After Hinrich missed one of two foul shots with 12.1 seconds left, the Celtics had a two-point lead and just needed to get to the foul line.

However, Paul Pierce (5-for-17, 13 points) was forced into a jump ball in front of the Bulls’ bench by Joakim Noah with 9.4 seconds to go after an inbounds pass. The Bulls got possession, and after the ball was knocked away, it wound up in Hinrich’s hands and he hit the game-tying shot.

“I told our guys in timeout, ‘They’re going to trap,’ ‘’ said Rivers, whose team incredibly scored just seven points off 21 Bulls’ turnovers. “They never foul right away. They’re going to trap and then foul. I thought they did do a little bit of both.

“And I thought Rondo actually called a timeout before the (jump ball) was called. If you watch the replay, Rondo was right in front of (referee) Marc Davis and did timeout signal, then the (jump ball) was called.

“You knew they were going to trap. We’ve just got to do whatever you cannot to get tied up. I never saw the actually tie up. I thought it was more swinging.”

Page 2 of 2 - In overtime, Rondo (12-for-21 shooting) fouled out with 1:16 to go and the Celtics trailing, but Pierce made two foul shots to cut the Bulls’ lead to 98-97 with 43.7 seconds left and Jason Terry hit a 16-footer with 12.5 seconds to go, giving the Celtics the lead.

However, Belinelli made his shot over Terry, falling down on the play as the ball went through the net, and Courtney Lee’s desperation shot was off target.

Rondo picked up the offensive slack with Pierce and Garnett (5-for-16, 16 points) both struggling with their shot.

“Rondo was good,” said Rivers. “I thought he started out slow, but I thought it was a great example. He was kind of surveying the game and thought, ‘I have to go get this for us’ and I thought he did that with his speed.”